Meet the Host

Sean Hoy brings energy and fun to the expos

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI

Sean Hoy likes to say he has four talents: painting, cartooning, teaching and interviewing.

“When I was younger, I always had little talk shows,” he says with a laugh. “I’d even interview myself — ‘What do you think about that, Sean?’ ‘I think that’s great, Sean!’ ‘What a great idea, Sean!’”

When he hosts the Lovin’ Life After 50 Expos, he incorporates the skill set.

“I love doing those,” says Hoy, who will appear at the expos on Wednesday, January 12, in Tucson; Monday, January 24, in Sun City; and Wednesday, January 26, in Mesa.

“I have such a free rein of just being me and bringing my personality. I just love it. I’ve been doing it now for three years. It’s neat that I get to see the same people I’ve befriended. It’s such a neat thing.”

The pandemic has been troubling to most, but Hoy used his art as a way of dealing with it. He painted murals and portraits of deceased pets for fur parents and created stickers. Hoy’s work can be seen at Copper 48 in Downtown Gilbert and The Perch Brewery in Chandler.

“It really hit me, finally, that I’ve been doing the same thing since the fourth grade, but now I’m getting paid for it,” he says.

“People say, ‘You’re living your dream.’ I say, ‘Wait a minute. I am.’ I’ve been printing these stickers. I’m totally into it. I’m calling it the Hoylarious Sticker Movement. I must have at least 20 to 25 sticker designs, all with positive messages. Everything I do is more whimsical and positive.”

Hoy was born in Alexandria, Virginia. His father was the White House photographer for The Washington Post from 1963 to 1972. His mother worked there as well.

“He has pictures of Kennedy, Nixon and Johnson,” Hoy says. “He has pictures of him and Johnson shaking hands and talking. He earned a doctorate and taught at Syracuse, before coming here to help start the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication with the man he called ‘Wally.’

“Photojournalism was his thing at ASU. I was the State Press cartoonist for three and a half years, and he mentored photographers. We were very close.”

Hoy has worked with underprivileged children and also does corporate training. “I go to different companies and teach the staff how to communicate better with improv techniques,” Hoy says. “I don’t like to say ‘comedy,’ because people will think it’s dirty.”

He’s not one to take any of his talents for granted.

“Every day, I am grateful for all my talents,” he says. “I want to use them to the best of my abilities. I want people to smile. I don’t need a belly laugh. When people say, ‘You’re a breath of fresh air,’ that’s the best compliment in the world. If I made you smile or made your dog wag his tail, that’s my day. I’m done. Drop the mic.”

Sean Hoy has hosted Lovin’ Life After 50 Expos for four years. (Photo by Kimberly Carrillo)

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